


Oh, positive

by chimeriads



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Armin's tragic bowl cut, Awkward Romance, Fluff, M/M, Supernatural Elements, hideous puns, supernatural beings in an everyday setting, this is silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-22 11:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2506298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimeriads/pseuds/chimeriads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi could think of a million other things he could be doing instead of helping Hanji run “I Heard Being a Vampire Really Sucks – debunking the myths and urban legends of vampires and how they 'live'”, but unfortunately for him Hanji was persistent, she knew exactly how to bribe him, and there's some newly turned vamp at the back of the lecture hall who clearly doesn't have a fucking clue what he's doing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, positive

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh... this was supposed to be a short, fun drabble so I could play around with the idea of supernatural beings living in a world where they're considered completely everyday and mundane, if a little misunderstood.
> 
> Something happened, and now it's accidentally a 12,000+ word behemoth that escaped my control and oh god what even happened. 
> 
> Ok, housekeeping: if you don't like portrayals of vampires that don't follow the usual Dracula standard, this might not be the vampire fic for you. Heck, I don't know how these vampires function, and I wrote this... thing. 
> 
> If you like hideous puns that I refuse to be ashamed about (see: the title) and idiots being idiots, then hey. I hope you enjoy?

* * *

 

The first time Hanji had shown up on his doorstep, pamphlet waving around in time with the motions of her hands, Levi had slammed the door shut in her face and refused to open it again until the next day. Not even when she'd sat outside his apartment door for four hours loudly reading from that god-awful Dusklight novel until he heard the old lady who lived opposite him – who, incidentally, was now his favourite person in the entire world - forcibly shooing her away.

 

Hopefully with a broom.

 

Or a baseball bat.

 

The second time she'd shown up on his doorstep, pamphlet still in hand and this time with the added support of Moblit at her back, he'd slammed the door shut so quickly that he only realised he'd probably broken her nose when he heard one yelp of pain, and one yelp of surprise on the other side of the varnished wood.

 

The third time, she'd skipped the door completely and broke in through his window before he had time to connect the sound of the locks clicking with the lengths Hanji would be willing to go to get his attention on this matter.

 

The only reason he hadn't forcibly thrown her out of the fourth floor window she just shimmied her way through had absolutely nothing to do with the tiny shred of guilt he felt at the sight of the splint stuck firmly over her nose. Hanji had seized that moment of weakness with both hands and dragged him to sit with her on the sofa and shoved the pamphlet under his nose before he really had a chance to process what was going on.

 

“It wouldn't be for long. One lecture every week for five weeks,” she'd babbled, scrambling up from the sofa as soon as he was settled with her precious sheet of paper in his hands. “But it's a perfect opportunity for some extra cash, _and_ a chance to highlight and correct some of the general public's misconceptions on how we live.” There was the clinking sound of china from the kitchen, and Levi had sorely hoped Hanji was making a hot beverage because he really, really needed one.

 

“It's a university lecture.”

 

“Yuuuuuup.” The whistle of the kettle cut through her extended confirmation.

 

“On vampires.”

 

“That's right!”

 

“... why?”

 

There was no response for a few moments, until Hanji reappeared in the doorway with two steaming mugs in her hands – one coffee, and one tea if she knew what was good for her. One of the mugs had a “hilarious” rendition of a cartoon mouth with pointy vampire-like fangs protruding from behind the upper lip. That mug always seemed to find its way back into Levi's cupboard. No matter how many times he hid it, threw it out or threw it off the top of his apartment building.

 

“Things have improved since the first vampire rights movements started,” Hanji began, taking a long sip from her mug ( _not,_ Levi noted, _the vampire-tooth mug_ ), smacking her lips in appreciation. “I mean, you remember what it used to be like. The stakings, the ritual burnings, overrunning any suspicious building with garlic...”

 

Levi remembered. It had taken months for the lingering scent of garlic to fade away. He repressed a shudder that went largely ignored by Hanji as she set his mug down on the table.

 

“But there are lots of old fashioned _incorrect_ traditions that still linger on. And they're actually as dangerous to the people who believe them as they are to us. If we can correctly school the upcoming generations in what we are and how we work it'll improve things for us in the future, and for any new fledglings that are created.”

 

Levi slowly took a sip of his tea, rasing one pointed eyebrow at her.

 

“And me attending a lecture for a bunch of probably drunk, definitely high university students trying to sleep at their desks without being caught is going to do... _what_ , exactly, for your precious vampire cause?”

 

“Rome wasn't built in a day. Get 'em while they're young, impressionable and probably having drug aided hallucinations that'll mesh with our words and imprint them on their minds for all eternity.” Hanji raised her mug up expectantly, and held it there until Levi huffed, reluctantly raising his own to clink against it.

 

“Seriously though. Help me out and I'll make it worth your while.”

 

She sing-songed the last words in a way that made Levi want throw his mug at her face.

 

“There is literally nothing you can offer me that'll make me say--”

 

“I'll buy you that vacuum you want. You know, the cordless one with double the usual suction power of a normal vacuum.”

 

“-- Yes.”

 

Goddamit.

 

* * *

 

 As it turned out, the students lined up neatly along the rows and rows of raised desks in lecture room 104 hadn't had the decency to turn up drunk _or_ high, which meant Levi would actually have to make it seem like he gave one iota of a shit about “I Heard Being a Vampire Really Sucks – debunking the myths and urban legends of vampires and how they 'live'” and not let on to the fact he'd only been lured there by the sweet, sweet temptation of cordless vacuums and a fresh tin of quality black tea leaves he'd managed to wrangle out of his enthusiastic acquaintance after some hard bargaining.

 

One student, towards the back by the window, had been chewing nosily on what looked like a bread roll for the past fifteen minutes, leaving a thin dusting of crumbs all over her desk that made Levi want to walk over and slap the roll out of her hands altogether. Instead, he took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.

 

“-- so, you see, the risk posed by vampires dropped significantly after the consent clause was introduced back in 1949.” Hanji adjusted her glasses slightly. Her enthusiasm was palpable in her body language and the lilt of her words. She made a good lecturer, Levi'd give her that. He could almost see her enthusiasm radiating off her in visible waves, and the students absorbing it in turn. Some of them had actually asked intelligent questions, which put them at least a little above his initial low estimation of them all.

 

“I'm not saying you don't run the risk of being turned, there are still vampires out there that ignore the clause, but you get a lot more support now than you would have back when I was turned. There are groups: people you can talk to, safe houses if you can't go home... no one looking to burn you alive or stab you with a silver dagger just for existing...” There was a faint ripple of amusement over the crowd at that one. “Think of it as a common sense thing. You keep an eye out for other humans that could cause you harm, so it's best to do the same for us too. Don't assume every vampire is out to turn you, but just play it safe if you're in a vulnerable position.”

 

He watched as Hanji scanned the crowd, pointing at the next raised hand in the audience. The boy looked a little surprised at being picked, and hunkered himself down a little further into the collar of his hoodie. Levi'd spotted him when he first came into the room – initially because he literally had the biggest eyes he'd ever seen on a youth over the age of five years old. Big, round and coloured in a very unique shade somewhere between blue and green; they'd been enough to catch his initial attention, but he'd kept his eye on the boy for far more interesting reasons. The kid had been taking furious notes in a small notebook, shielding the contents from the slender, dark haired woman on his right who seems intent on getting a glimpse at what he was writing. Every now and again he'd raise his hand to press tellingly at his right collarbone. Levi wondered if even knew that he was doing it. To a human, maybe that wasn't such a weird trait, but to a vampire...

 

“What about daylight? I heard it's uncomfortable and painful for vampires, and you do have the curtains closed in here but... if you're avoiding the sun wouldn't it make more sense for you to be here at night?”

 

There was silence for about a minute, before Levi realised Hanji was making Very Pointed Eyebrows at him, waiting for him to answer the question. He resisted the urge to pull a face. He'd been doing so well at avoiding having to speak so far.

 

“Firstly, it's a fucking miracle this many of you little shits showed up here in the first place. Put this lecture outside study hours and none of you would be willing to drag your asses back here to listen to some decrepit old supernatural wonders play question and answer with you.” Somewhere to his left, he heard the sound of Hanji gently smacking the palm of her hand into her forehead. “But to answer the question; no. The sun's not exactly comfortable, and you won't find me lying around it in all day, but it doesn't kill us. So tugging back that blind and flooding me with sunlight is going to do exactly jackshit to me in any way, sharp or form,” he added, levelling a glare at the girl in the corner with the bread roll and her companion who had been edging towards the blinds since he'd started answering the question. The girl let out a choked, surprised laugh and her friend froze guiltily, his hand dropping from where it was reaching for the pull cord.

 

A row up from them, the bright-eyed boy was scribbling away in his notebook, paying no attention to the goings on around him. His hand was still reaching up occasionally to rub at his collar bone in a motion that seemed almost definitely a paranoid force of habit over a reflexive action. As Hanji started looking around for someone to pose the next question, Levi felt himself frowning slightly. The suspicion he was having was just a fleeting one, but it couldn't hurt to do as Hanji always insisted everyone should do and test out a theory.

 

* * *

 

He didn't see any of the students from the lecture until lunch time. After the slow hour of questions and answers had come to a close, Hanji had collected the evaluation forms she'd handed out at the start and they'd been bustled into the Dean's office to discuss where the lectures should go from there.

 

Or rather, the Dean and Hanji had discussed ways to improve and develop the lectures over the next few weeks. Levi's thoughts had been frustratedly attached to the teen with the freakishly bright eyes. He'd rushed out of the lecture room when Hanji had finished talking like a bat out of hell, ironic terminology aside, leaving his dark-haired female friend and a doe-eyed kid with a tragic bowl cut who had been sat in the row in front of him to scramble after him in a very comedic way. There had been no time to even consider whether or not to go and talk to him, let alone how to go about it, before he was gone.

 

So, it had felt almost a bit _too_ convenient that Levi found himself stood next to the bright-eyed brat in the lunch room queue just over a hour later. Not convenient enough to go out of his way to avoid watching the kid like a hawk though. He knew the kid knew that he was watching, and in turn he knew the kid knew that he probably knew about the potential secret he was hiding under his hoodie collar.

 

Levi suppressed a huff.

 

This kind of convoluted shit was way more up Hanji's alley than his. But she'd either not noticed the kid's obvious tells, or had decided to leave it all in Levi's less-than-probably-qualified hands.

 

He could hear the nervous breaths coming from his left, and he could sense the quickened pulse fluttering beneath the kid's skin. It was oddly intoxicating, in a way. He spent most of his time around vampires who'd been turned for at _least_ the past fifty years. They'd had ages to adjust and adapt to their new abilities and their new place in the world around them. To be so close to someone newly turned and to be on the other side of that nervous fear and paranoia he remembered feeling when he'd first been turned was... addictive. There was a familiar aching deep in the roots of his fangs; one that he hadn't felt for a while. The urge to bite down on that pulse and drain it. It was fainter than it'd been when he was newly turned, but still there. A primal reminder that for all their contracts, clauses and rules nowadays, they still needed to satisfy that urge from time to time.

 

He inhaled deeply and slowly when the kid's arm reached across him – grabbing for a bottle of water from the fridge in front of him. Instinctively, Levi's eyes focused on the stretch of tanned skin peeking out from the hoodie collar. Just visible from beneath the navy coloured cotton was an oddly red patch of skin – newly, or fairly recently agitated. Without a word, Levi hooked a pale finger under the collar and tugged it down a little further, ignoring the choked sound of surprise and anger it drew from the kid. There, just a little above his collarbone, were two neat puncture marks. They were still red, and a little scabbed. No where near the long-healed, pale scars that made up his own bite.

 

These were recent. This kid was definitely newly turned.

 

Of course, he didn't get long to dwell on this before that choked, angry sound became an all out yell, and Levi was having to duck the tray full of food that had been thrown in his direction. And subsequently all over the floor near the counter.

 

 _Honestly_ , Levi thought, as the entire canteen seemed to fall into a tense silence, and he levelled a thoughtful, unwavering gaze on the flushed, angry vampire opposite him, _that could have gone a lot better._

 

* * *

 

 

“Oi.”

 

There was a pointed, stony silence.

 

Levi let out an annoyed sigh and pried the lid off his inevitably crap tea with a little more force than was probably necessary.

 

“Oi, kid. I'm trying to talk to you.”

 

He could almost hear the petulant twist of the younger vampire's mouth as he continued to not reply to anything Levi said. He'd gotten the brunt of the blame for the incident only twenty minutes ago. He hadn't wanted to breathe a word about what had made him freak out the way he did, and it hadn't helped that the only other person who could have been involved was currently a guest of the university. So the brunt of cleaning up the mess had fallen on the younger vampire.

 

“Look, I'm not going anywhere. So you can sit around being stubborn, or you could actually answer me when I'm talking to you, kid.”

 

“My _name_ is _Eren_.” The snapped response was accompanied by the slap of damp cloth being thrown against the ground, and a whirl of sharp, angry bright eyes and anger-flushed skin. “Stop calling me k--” The angry words stuttered to a halt at the glint of sharp teeth and slightly victorious smirk that had crept across Levi's face.

 

“Eren, then.” Levi crooked a finger at Eren, before pointing at the seat next to him. It was worth it for the fresh look of anger that sparked through Eren's eyes.

 

“Sit down. We're going to have a talk.”

 

“About _what_?”

 

“You know what,” he tapped at his own collarbone, just a little way from where his own bite rested. The nervous bob of Eren's throat didn't go unnoticed, nor did the way he only semi followed Levi's orders. The cloth was left discarded on the ground, but Eren ended up perched on the counter, legs crossed under him, rather than in the seat opposite him. They sat in heavy silence - Eren still cross legged on the table and Levi still sat in his shitty cafeteria chair - for far longer than Levi had the patience to be dealing with.

 

“Look, it's no skin of my damn nose if you want to fuck around with the changing process all by yourself.” Eren's eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyebrows pulled into a deep frown. “But I wouldn't advise it. I know about eight or nine vampires who would've killed to have someone to vent to when they changed, but hey. If you're that bothered, I can just go and leave you to it if you're not going to help me help you.”

 

The silence that followed was tense, and Levi honestly thought the kid was going to just get up and leave at one point. Finally though, his frown lightened and he deflated almost instantly, hunching himself over his crossed legs. He looked every bit the scared young adult going through something that was far too big for him to shoulder all by himself, and Levi felt something sharp and a little bitter stab in his chest.

 

He hadn't been lying. Back when he'd been turned, the word vampires incited a sort of fearful, vengeful panic in whoever heard them. The idea of someone sitting across from him and talking him through all the ridiculous shit that was going to happen to him in the next few months was laughable. But here he was right now, doing just that for some brat he'd never even met before today.

 

Time certainly had changed.

 

“I just... don't... How do you even prepare for something like...” Eren exhaled heavily, slim fingers picking idly at a fraying hole in his jeans. Levi's eyes followed the nervous motion, eyes flicking between the movement of his hand and the slip of tanned skin peeking through the material. Eren swallowed heavily, peering up at Levi through his fringe a little cautiously. “... They say it's difficult to control. The change, I mean. That you'll just lose it, snap and the next thing you know you've drained someone dry.”

 

“They also say that you can kill us by shoving a stake through our hearts.” Levi's eyes met Eren's, holding his gaze to Eren's tentative but now determined one. “Forgetting that shoving a chunk of sharpened wood through anyone's heart would kill them, vampire or not.”

 

The quirk of Eren's lips and glitter of amusement in his eyes was certainly reassuring. Reassuring enough that Levi decided to take the chance and keep the line of conversation going.

 

“Look, kid.” He ignored the exasperated look the nickname got him. “You have to remember that the stereotypical view of vampires is entirely outdated nowadays. Coincidentally, people clinging to that view is exactly why shitty glasses back there broke into my fucking apartment to get me to come here with her today.

 

There's nothing gained from hiding this kind of thing any more. If anything, it puts you in even more danger. How can the laws protecting us cover you if no one knows what you are?”

 

Eren's brow furrowed slightly, his gaze lowering back to the hole in his jeans.

 

“I can't just... go home tonight and say 'Hey mom, dad, Mikasa. Guess what happened to me two weeks ago!'.”

 

“I don't see why not.”

 

He ignored Eren's incredulous look, and continued. “Look, this isn't something you can hide. Eventually, your family's going to realise you're not ageing any more. You think they'll take it better if you tell them now, or if they have to wait until they figure it out themselves twenty years down the line?”

 

Eren's frown deepened and he drummed his fingers against the frayed denim on his legs. The motions of his fingers were jerky and agitated; like he was trying to avoid having to answer.

 

“... I can't just... make myself tell them right now.”

 

“I'm not asking you to if you can't.” Levi leant back in his chair and realised, for the first time, that not knowing who his parents were had probably worked in his favour when it came to being turned. Less hassle and emotional struggle over who to tell and who to hide it from. “Work your way up to it. Just as long as you tell them sooner rather than later, they'll have more time to come around to it. Get it off your chest.”

 

Eren was staring at him now. Really staring; not just the occasional nervous glance when he thought Levi wasn't looking. It was like he was seeing him for the first time.

 

“... Maybe. I can't guarantee _when_ I'll tell them but--”

 

“Just as long as you do. It'll work out. And if it doesn't, I'm sure Hanji would swoop you under her morally dubious wing in a split second if you asked her.”

 

Eren uncrossed his legs and dropped lightly onto the ground, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

 

“The one doing all the talking at the lecture?” At Levi's nod, Eren's mouth quirked into a proper smile – all pearly white teeth and warm crinkles at the corners of his eyes that left Levi blinking a little in surprise. “Thanks, I think? Maybe I'll let you know if I'm ever in need of that bolt hole.”

 

Levi let out a snort, and waved a hand.

 

“Whatever. Get out of here, brat.”

 

“You'll be here next week?”

 

“Not out of any choice of my own, but yeah. Probably.”

 

Eren's smile got a little brighter, and Levi felt even more bemused by this sudden change in attitude. It was like Eren'd been given a little ray of hope; had some kind of weight lifted from his shoulders. Something like that was decidedly _not_ Levi's speciality in any sense of the word.

 

“I'll see you next week then.”

 

“I thought I told you to get out of here.”

 

With a wave of his hand, Eren turned on his heel and hurried out of the door, leaving Levi alone with his now cold cup of tea. He sat there for a minute longer, before he stood up, taking his cup with him. He dumped the cardboard cup in the bin on the way out; an amused smirk creeping over his lips.

 

* * *

 

Eren was waiting for him outside the lecture room after the second week's lecture (“Fangs for the Memories: a look into vampire/vampire and vampire/human interpersonal relationships in the modern era.” Levi had no clue where Hanji came up with this shit). He was leant against the wall; the heel of his shoe scuffing an erratic beat against the plaster. He'd been gnawing on his lip throughout the entire lecture, and now Levi was close enough to see Eren clearly he could see the little sliver of new pink skin where he'd torn away at the old skin with his teeth. Levi's fangs gave another throb, and he bit down on the inside of his cheek to banish that thought before it even took root.

 

“You look like shit.”

 

The heel of Eren's shoe catapulted into a violent, surprised kick mid scuff and there was a cracking crumbling sound as the plaster dented as if it were made of a butter. It was probably some kind of miracle that they'd come to the unvoiced agreement that the supposedly still human Eren meeting with a vampire would look less suspicious if no one was around to see it, so the hallway had been mercifully empty for that little episode.

 

Levi sighed.

 

“I thought you were taking lecture notes last week. With great vampirism comes an annoyingly useful slash useless dose of super strength when you least expect it.”

 

“You snuck up on me!” Eren's hand was pressed against his chest, like he was about to have a turn.

 

“You weren't paying attention.” Levi folded his arms, and fixed Eren with a pointed look. “But that isn't telling me why you're stood out here with your own personal rain cloud looming over your head.”

 

Eren pursed his lips slightly, before jerking his head at the direction of the exit. “Outside. I'm not talking in the middle of the corridor.” There didn't seem to be any benefit in pointing out that they were less likely to be overheard in the currently deserted, closed off corridor and _more_ likely to get caught out talking about it out in the open; Eren was already halfway to the exit. Levi settled for sighing instead, and followed after him.

 

Outside, Eren took up almost the exact same position – perched on the edge of a railing this time, and drumming his fingers against the chipped paint of the metal instead of kicking his heel against a wall – and Levi saw no point in attempting to engage him in conversation until he was ready. It ended up taking less time than he'd been expecting, before Eren turned far too big, slightly worried eyes in his direction.

 

“I think my mom knows.”

 

If an eyebrow arch could be audible, the one Levi just pulled would have sounded a loud clicking noise as it rose into place.

 

“Knows...?”

 

“About my... _problem_ ,” Eren tugged at the collar of his shirt pointedly. This week, he'd taken to dotting a flesh coloured plaster over the two little puncture marks on his neck, and had, apparently, decided to make things a little less suspicious by adding a few more plasters around his neck as well. Honestly, it just looked like he was trying to hide the evidence of an overzealous sexual partner and that left a slightly uncomfortable feeling in the pit of Levi's stomach that he swiftly decided to ignore.

 

“Being a vampire, you mean.”

 

It seemed to take Eren a lot of physical restraint not to throw himself backwards over the railing to clap a hand over Levi's mouth. Levi was fairly certain the venomous look he'd given him when he'd started to move had helped.

 

“... Yes. _That_ thing.”

 

“You might as well call it what it is. You're not going to suddenly change back to a human if you avoid it long enough.”

 

Eren sniffed.

 

“ _Anyway_. I think my mom... well... she suspects something, at least. She doesn't seem to know exactly what's up, but she knows something's different...”

 

“Peppering your neck with plasters like you're trying to hide multiple hickeys probably didn't help. She'll be asking you to bring your secret girlfriend home any day now,” came Levi's slightly bored response. He'd moved to perch himself on the edge of the railing, off the ground as opposed to just leaning against it like Eren was doing. Rather annoyingly, he found they were at eye level like this.

 

“Look, I really need some advice here and you're not _helping_ ,” 'like you said you would' were the unspoken words that hung in the air, and Levi waved a hand a little flippantly.

 

“So get to the point. Elaborate.”

 

Eren fell silent, prying his nail under a loose fleck of paint and tugging it nervously, breaking it in half, then half again before finally speaking. “... Just... things she's been saying. A few pointed comments. She's been checking my skin tone, like she thinks I'm ill or something. Do I look paler to you?”

 

Levi leant backwards slightly, as Eren leant forwards; eyes intent and determined. He smelt of soap, and an edge of something slightly sweet – the scent of his blood pulsing fiercely under his decidedly non-pale looking skin. Levi exhaled heavily through his nose.

 

“Get the hell out of my personal bubble kid.” Eren pouted and, mercifully, leaned back again. “And last week you seemed to think you could keep this under wraps until the end of days. What changed so much that your mother could see through you in less than a week?”

 

“Well, she works in medicine. She's a nurse, so she's used to seeing people looking ill and picking up on the cues. I'm guessing that might be why?”

 

“Sure. Or maybe the fact that all nurses and doctors have to train in both human _and_ vampire medical treatments nowadays might have something to do with it?” Levi stared at Eren staring blankly at him, and tried to ignore the sense of frustration brewing up in his chest, “They're trained to treat newly turned vampires for their symptoms as well as the usual human medicines. How did you not know this?”

 

“I've never had to know!! Why would I? I didn't exactly plan on getting turned into a vampire, it wasn't, like, a child hood dream of mine!”

 

“No one plans that kind of shit, kid. It's just mind boggling you live with someone in the health care profession and don't even know the basics of what they do.” Levi ignored Eren's mumbling, something about him never being ill enough to need to know, before adding: “That's going to make it tougher for you to keep this a secret. Might want to hurry up and let the cat out the bag already.”

 

“But I'm not ready to--”

 

“Your mother's not going to stop trying to work out what's up with you just because you're not ready to tell her. If she's worried about your health, she'll just be trying harder to find out what the issue is.” There was a brief, heavy pause, before: “She'll be worried about you.”

 

Eren's mouth shut with a sharp sounding click and he scuffed his shoe against the ground like a child caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. Levi slid down off the barrier just enough to balance his weight one his foot, and folded his arms comfortably across his chest. There was little point in pressing the issue over and over in one conversation. If there was anything he'd learned from the past meeting and this one, it was that Eren was stubborn and determined. A lethal combination of traits, in both positive and destructive ways. It just took a couple of careful words to switch that determination from something destructive, like hiding the life changing physical changes he was going through from his nearest and dearest, to something positive. Like channelling that determination and stubborn streak into finding the best way to let them know.

 

Apparently - although given his ability to give people the entirely wrong impression just by looking at them funny, Levi had to wonder exactly _how_ – he'd hit upon the magical topic that might get that to happen. Now he just had to sit back and let Eren work through the more positive side of things by himself.

 

“Do you really think so?”

 

Levi shrugged. “Hell if I know.” He ignored the way Eren stared at him through that messy brown fringe of his, and mentally scrambled to find the right words to properly explain his point, “Look, I'm not your mom.” Eren snorted slightly, but Levi ignored him and kept going.

 

“But people worry about their family members, don't they?” After a moment Eren nodded slowly. “She's probably worrying too.”

 

It was easy enough for him to say that though. There were tonnes of benefits just coming out and getting that weight off his shoulders, but Eren had a lot to lose if the news didn't go down well. Levi would hardly call himself empathetic, but it wasn't hard to imagine going through similar kinds of dilemmas if he were in Eren's situation. The kid was looking at him like he could impart all the answers to his troubles, but the harsh truth was that he couldn't. No one but Eren could answer his troubles.

 

“Just do it in your own time.”

 

“My own time...” Eren's eyes fluttered shut – long lashes brushing against the skin of his cheeks.

 

“Yeah. I could do that.”

 

“Good. No one's going to do it for you,” Levi quipped, leaning back against the metal railing and examining the nails on his right hand to avoid the unimpressed, piercing glare Eren tried to shoot him. They remained at a stand off, until Eren shifted awkwardly and Levi felt the heaviness of that gaze move away from trying to bore a hole in the side of his skull. The kid probably thought he could get his answers that way. Desperate times, desperate measures.

 

“Fine. I'm not going to _not_ do it...” he said, hopping down onto the car park. He craned his head to look up at Levi, and the older vampire found it entirely impossible not to enjoy this change of perspective.

 

“Don't drag your heels forever. You've got all the time in the world; they don't.” He ignored that repeated glare, this time meeting Eren's eyes straight on. “And for fuck's sake, get rid of those plasters you look ridiculous.”

 

Eren didn't deign to respond. Instead, he made a rude hand gesture that earned him an amused snort, and stuffed his hands into his pockets as he stormed out of the car park. Levi waited until he vanished around the corner, out of sight of his perch by the fire exit, before vanishing back into the building.

 

* * *

 

Eren wasn't waiting for him after the third week's lecture (“It's Driving Me Batty: vampire special abilities and how they differ from vamp to vamp.”). For a moment, Levi was a little lost about what to do. He had no interest in going with Hanji and the Dean to discuss where the lectures were going and whether or not they were achieving what they were supposed to be achieving, and now with no bright-eyed, newly turned vampire to occupy his time with questions and too-bright smiles Levi found himself with a large chunk of free time and nothing to do with it.

 

He didn't have to worry for too long though. He'd barely had the chance to perch himself on the step in front of the same railing he and Eren had occupied the previous week – ignoring the slight unease he felt at how quiet the atmosphere felt – before there was a shadow falling over his face. The afternoon had been overcast, yet warm. Literally the perfect temperature for him, with no chance of feeling any discomfort from the strength of the sun's rays, so having his moment of quiet comfort interrupted had his brow furrowing in annoyance. When he opened his eyes, he expected to see a now familiar mop of messy brown hair and wide eyes.

 

What he didn't expect to see was cropped dark hair and sharp, dark eyes peering at him over the wool of a bright red scarf.

 

“What happened to Eren?”

 

Levi blinked once, slowly.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Something happened to Eren. He's hiding it from me. I need to know what it is.”

 

He recognised the striking young Asian woman from the first week – one of the people who'd rushed out after Eren when he'd left. The one who'd been trying to read his notes.

 

“What makes you think I know what's wrong with him? He's a university student in his early twenties. There's probably hundreds of things wrong with him.”

 

The dark eyes narrowed at him; almost as if she was trying to stare _through_ him and pick all of the secrets and information out of his skull. It was unnerving and uncomfortable as hell.

 

It also hadn't worked for Eren last week, and he'd be damned if it was going to work for this girl _this_ week.

 

“He's been spending all his time after these lectures speaking to you. He missed his life drawing class last week.” There was a pause, in which Levi's eyebrow rose a little. “Eren never misses his life drawing class.”

 

Right. Of course.

 

“And that's my fault because...?”

 

“He's never shown such an interest in vampire welfare before now. What happened?”

 

For a moment, Levi was tempted to tell her. He'd gone through decades of keeping his own turning a secret, and he wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Things were so much easier now, compared to seventy, eighty years ago. You had to make the conscious choice to go through something as big as the turning alone. There was always someone, somewhere who would lend you a bolt hole when things got too tough, or if something didn't go according to plan when you told your loved ones. Eren was making that conscious decision. And for that brief, brief moment, Levi seriously considered taking that choice away from him. For his own good, to make things easier in the long run.

 

But that was it, that was the point. Eren had the choice. There was never going to be a mob hunting him down simply for existing. There would never be the need to constantly look over his shoulder just to make sure he was safe.

 

“And you are...?”

 

“Mikasa. Eren's sister.”

 

“He'll tell you when he's ready.”

 

Mikasa blinked at him, and Levi could see the way the tightly wound scarf shifted as her jaw tensed, and her mouth twisted into something probably resembling annoyance behind the wool.

 

“Don't give me that look. You're family. He said he'd tell you when he's ready.”

 

Mikasa's hands clenched into fists, and for a moment, Levi thought she was going to try to hit him. It would've been interesting to see her try.

 

“Why _else_ would he be talking to you? Why _else_ would he be wearing big collars, bandaging his neck, and--”

 

“How many times do I have to repeat myself? He'll _tell you when he's ready_.” There was a heavy, stony silence for a moment. “Have some fucking patience.”

 

The silence set back in, tense and angry, until Mikasa spun on her heel and stormed back into the building, shutting the door behind her with a little more force than was probably necessary. Levi could feel the sound rattle through his bones. He waited for about half a minute, just in case she came back for round two, before letting himself relax again; his body leaning against the patchy paintwork of the metal fence.

 

It wasn't long until he was interrupted again. In exactly the same way.

 

Levi sighed.

 

“What now?”

 

This time, he was greeted with the brown hair and wide eyes he'd been expecting the first time. Eren was looking between him and the door his sister had vanished through.

 

“Did she--”

 

“I told her you'd tell her when you're ready.” Levi pushed himself upright again, and leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his thighs. Eren shifted uncomfortably as he pinned him down with a pointed, thoughtful stare. “First your mother, now your sister. Not to rush you or anything, but--”

 

“I know.” Levi could feel the rush of hot air as Eren exhaled from where he was sat. “Just a little more time. I'm working up to it.”

 

“Work a little fucking faster.”

 

“Thanks though. For not telling her. She can get a little... over protective, but she's just looking out for me.”

 

Levi opened his eyes fully, focusing on Eren. He was stood a little awkwardly where Mikasa had been stood a few minutes ago, fingers twisting into the soft looking material of his hooded sweater periodically. He could sense, before he saw, the flush of pink rising up Eren's cheeks the longer Levi kept staring at him. Like the first week, he could hear the increase in Eren's pulse as clearly as if he was sat pressed up close to the younger man. It was disconcerting, but a little bit intoxicating as well. If he listened hard enough, maybe he'd be able to hear the nervous thumping of Eren's heart.

 

He left Eren to stew for a moment; watching as the tips of his ears went from a pale pinkish tint to bright red the longer he stared at him. Eventually though, Levi took pity on him; huffed, and looked away.

 

“As long as she doesn't keep pestering me we'll get along fine.”

 

He held out a hand, letting out a sharp, slightly exasperated exhale when Eren just stared at it blankly. It look a sharp wave of the hand for the meaning to sink in, and Eren scrambled forwards to grab the offered limb, pulling on it gently to help Levi to his feet. Eren's hand felt warm; his fingers were a little shorter and wider than Levi's and his palms were peppered with small patches of rougher skin. Levi found he was a little unwilling to let go once he was stood up – vampirism aside, his body temperature had always been on the cooler side. Eren was just plain warm, like a living furnace. Eren was also clearing his throat a little awkwardly, but didn't seem to be pulling his hand away from Levi's. When he drew himself out of his inner thoughts, and finally let go of Eren's overly warm hand, it was easy enough to spot the red flush that had moved around from Eren's ears to settle high on the younger vampire's cheekbones. Eren's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, before he frowned, looking annoyed with himself and snapped his gaze up to pin Levi with a surprisingly fierce stare.

 

“Did you want to get something to eat? As a thank you, I mean. For the past few weeks, and for talking to Mikasa just now.” A pause, and Eren's head tilted slightly. His determined tone of voice trailed into something a little more unsure. “I... ah... that is... do you... _eat_ food? Like... would you be able to eat sushi, or a burger...?”

 

There was a pause, and Levi could almost hear the moment something important dawned on Eren:

 

“Wait, will _I_ even be able to eat burgers anymore? I haven't had any trouble now but am I just adjusting or something?”

 

A small, near inaudible laugh gusted out of Levi's lips. “Stick around until next week, and maybe you'll find out, kid.” The annoyed twist of Eren's lips at the “kid” only him chuckle more. “I'm pretty sure that's the lecture's topic of choice.”

 

Eren's face went from petulant to wary in the space of a second. “Did... Hanji name it?”

 

“She did.”

 

“What did she...?”

 

“'Bloody Mary, hold the Mary: the vampire diet and what to expect.'” Somehow, Levi managed to school his expression into something controlled and stoic in the face of the utterly floored expression that crossed Eren's face.

 

“How does she even _think_ of these titles?”

 

“I don't ever plan on asking.” Levi brushed a thin layer of imaginary dirt from the backs of his trousers. “But I can give you a class advantage if you're buying.”

 

Eren's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he nodded enthusiastically, and for the first time it was Levi who had to cave, break their gaze and look elsewhere.

 

* * *

 

 Hanji had broken in again when he got home. The window was creaking ominously where she'd neglected to refit the lock in favour of taking up as much of his kitchen table as possible. She'd lined up little plants along the polished surface – each of them in their own little painted tin plant pot, with a name scribbled on in black marker ink. From where he was stood, he could see 'Vladimir', 'Nosferatu' and 'Edward', the latter purposely stored in a pot that had been lovingly and caringly smothered in as much glitter as Hanji had been able to find at the time.

 

This was Hanji's latest “thing”, other than educating surprisingly not-drunk not-high university students on the wonders of vampirism. She was convinced there was some way to grow plants and vegetables with the same nutrients in them that vampires gained from drinking human blood (“ _Literal vegetarian vampires! It'll be the breakthrough of the century!!”_ she'd exclaimed after Levi had pointedly avoided asking her any sort of question on the subject whatsoever).

 

Each plant pot had a little pipette tucked away next to it, each one filled with red liquid – _blood_ , his nose told him. Some pipettes looked diluted, and some looked as rich and fresh as if Hanji's just drawn it from her own body.

 

“If you get any of that shit on my kitchen table, I'm throwing you head first out the window you came in through.”

 

Hanji let out a distracted, dismissive noise and flapped at hand at him. Her other hand was hovering steadily over Edward's offensively sparkling plant pot, letting tiny drops of the most diluted pipette drop into the soil one by one. To Levi's utterly uncaring eye, there was no change, but to Hanji's less than mentally sound one _something_ had apparently happened. She let out an excited gust of air, and scrabbled half across the table to grab a notebook and pen.

 

Briefly, Levi considered throwing her and her entire experiment out the window anyway.

 

By the time Hanji had finished doing whatever she was doing, Levi had cleaned part of the living room, wiped down the kitchen surfaces and brewed a pot of that good quality black tea Hanji had finally delivered to him the previous week as part of their deal. He was sipping from a fresh cup, when Hanji slammed her notebook down and pointed at him with a too-wide grin splitting across her face.

 

“You're late.”

 

“You broke into my apartment again, shitty-glasses.” Hanji waved his accusation away with a huff, leaning forwards until her chin was rested on her laced hands.

 

“You're never late. Also, you never go out. What gives?”

 

“I go out sometimes,” Levi muttered over the top of his cup. His eyes narrowed slightly when Hanji let out another dismissive sound. “I do.”

 

“Yeah, to the store and back. You completely vanished after the lecture – I know, I went looking for you!” She leaned back in her chair, studying him carefully. “Were you with the newbie again?”

 

“I helped him out. He offered to buy me food. I'm not going to turn down a free meal.”

 

“... So it was like a date then?” The lenses of her glasses glinted at him, and Levi was oddly glad he'd swallowed his mouthful of tea before it could catch in the back of his throat and cause a coughing fit.

 

“No, it was like a 'thank you for getting my over protective sister off my back, let me buy you a sandwich', and nothing like a date.”

 

Hanji's response, a long, drawn out humming sound, grated on his nerves and he didn't deign to grace her with a reply. They sat in slightly uncomfortable silence for a few moments, until Hanji opened her mouth to speak.

 

“So did you get his phone number?”

 

Levi set his cup down, and in one smooth motion grabbed Edward and headed for the window, ignoring Hanji's yell of surprise. At least that was the plan, until Hanji barrelled into the back of him and nearly sent Levi, her precious 'Edward' and herself flying out the still unlocked window.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren spent half of the fourth lecture breaking into smiles and brushing away Mikasa's frowns and prodding questions. His usual notebook was still tucked away in his bag, and he spent the whole lecture looking more relaxed than he had done in weeks.

 

Levi glanced away, ignoring the slight twitch of his lips. This was probably the first week Eren hadn't _needed_ to take pages and pages of notes. He already knew the topic fairly well after their crash course the week before. After seeing the brat so on edge and frustrated over his new lifestyle, it was a change of pace to see him listening so peacefully.

 

Peaceful didn't seem to be a concept Eren was especially familiar with, Levi was coming to realise.

 

At the end of the lecture, Eren had waved Mikasa and his blond friend (“Armin,” he'd told Levi the previous week, looking half amused and half annoyed, “Have you seriously been calling him 'tragic bowl cut' since week one?”) on ahead of him and waited until the hall was completely empty before approaching Levi; a small, slightly apologetic smile on his lips.

 

“I can't hang around this week. Mikasa made me promise I'd go to life drawing this week... she also said she'd knock me out and drag me there if I missed one more week so...”

 

Levi snorted, and waved a hand at him.

 

“I'll survive, I'm sure.” When Eren didn't make any attempt to leave, he refocused his attention on him with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

 

“... By the end of next week. That's when I'll have told them by. I promised myself I'd tell them before these lectures are over.” Eren shifted his weight from one foot to another, and smiled – it was small, nervous thing, but it lit up his eyes and softened his expression from pensive to hopeful. Levi swallowed once, heavily, and stared intently at the space just to left of Eren's head instead of straight into his eyes.

 

“... I'm nervous,” came the quiet admission after a minute of not uncomfortable silence, “Really nervous.”

 

“Don't be. You'll be fine.”

 

That little smile came back, just a little more uncertain than before.

 

“Not going to wish me luck?”

 

Levi leant back, resting against the desk that Hanji had claimed as her own for the duration of the lectures. There was still a little trail of glitter on the table from where she'd veered off into entirely improvised territory by bringing her beloved little pot plant experiments with her. “You don't need me to do that.”

 

“I wouldn't mind if you did anyway.”

 

Levi rolled his eyes. “Next you'll want a hug for good luck or some shit.” There was no reply. When Levi looked over at Eren, he was shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, a sheepishly hopeful look on his face.

 

“You're shitting me.”

 

“I'm willing to take anything right now, don't even joke about it,” Eren held out his arms, his expression still sheepish, but a little more determined now. Levi couldn't find it in himself to do anything but look exasperated until Eren made the first move and stepped forwards. Unintentionally, Levi felt himself tense up but he relaxed when Eren didn't forcibly hug him or anything too ridiculous. Instead, he just felt the press of Eren's forehead against his own, and an exhale of warm air across his face as Eren let out a relaxed sigh. Neither of them seemed to want to make the first move and step away – Levi mostly because he couldn't, there was still a desk behind him. But, he'd reasoned unwillingly with himself later on, he could have pulled away and stepped to the side with no trouble at all.

 

It was relaxing though. Eren's skin was soft and warm, and the only point of contact between the two of them was their foreheads. Most of the vampires he knew were either perpetually cold, like he was, or maintained a generally lower than average temperature. That fact that Eren, in comparison, was like a furnace was still something of a wonder to him. Maybe Eren was just warm compared to Levi, and cold compared to his sister, or his little blond friend; but stood here, as close to Eren as he was, all Levi could feel was heat and warmth seeping from Eren's body to his own. He had to tense his own body to stop himself sagging against that warmth when Eren eventually stepped back.

 

They just stared at each other for a moment, before Eren's cheeks went a little pink and he rubbed a hand through the hair at the back of his head.

 

“Ah, sorry.” He shrugged, and gave Levi a bright but sheepish grin. Levi exhaled sharply through his nose.

 

“Don't you have a life drawing class to get to?”

 

The way Eren's eyes widened was almost comical. His entire body followed suit; snapping to attention in a split second as he glanced between Levi and the clock like he wasn't sure if it would be considered rude to bolt out of the room like someone had lit a fire under his backside. Levi snorted.

 

“Better hurry up. You're late.”

 

Eren took that as a dismissal, and turned on his heel, bolting out the door with a hastily shouted goodbye echoing behind him.

 

Left alone with only peace and quiet for company, Levi shook his head and began to gather up his own bag so he could head home.

 

* * *

 

 She was sat outside in the same spot Levi tended to sit in, her back against the peeling paint of the railing. He wouldn't have had any idea who she was, if she hadn't turned to look at him when he came out of the exit. The eyes were a different colour, but the size and shape were identical to Eren's own, and her hair colour was the same shade of dark brown, albeit a lot neater and tidier.

 

The silence that followed the click of the door shutting behind him was thick, heavy and a little uncertain. He made no move to speak first, and the woman sat in his usual place seemed more determined to study him than initiate the conversation.

 

… He really wasn't used to this sort of thing.

 

“... Excuse me--”

 

The woman's expression softened, and she turned fully so she was looking directly at Levi instead of just watching him from the side.

 

“Are you one of the lecturers Eren's been talking about?” She smiled, “The extra ones, I mean, on vampirism in the modern age I think it was?”

 

Levi exhaled slowly, moving forwards to take a seat on the warm concrete next to the woman.

 

“Something like that. And you are?”

 

Her eyes went a little wide, and she cleared her throat, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear in something like an embarrassed reflex. “Ah, I'm sorry. I'm Carla Jaegar, Eren's mother.” Levi let out a low sound of acknowledgement, falling silent again afterwards. It was just a case of playing the waiting game now. Carla clearly wanted something, or she wouldn't have shown up at her son's university. Levi could guess what, but he wasn't about to offer her a free pass.

 

“Eren's been... preoccupied in the past few weeks. I was getting worried.” Carla laced her fingers and clasped them in her lap. “It was like there was something bothering him, but he didn't know how to deal with it. I kept waiting for him to come and talk to me, but he didn't.” She exhaled heavily, and turned her head to look at Levi. He met her gaze steadily, keeping it as expressionless as possible. If she was looking for something in his face, she couldn't and wouldn't find it.

 

“... I'm not an idiot. I have some idea of what's going on here, but... I'd rather hear it straight from him, rather than having to bring it up myself. If that makes sense.”

 

“Mm. It does.”

 

Carla fell back into silence, squeezing her hands in her lap when it become apparent Levi wasn't going to offer up any information willingly. In a way, it felt a little cruel to leave her in the dark when she was clearly so worried, but he'd made peace with the fact this wasn't his secret to tell. Especially not now Eren had clearly built himself up to a point where he was ready and willing to tell his family of his own free will. They sat there for a couple more minutes, before Levi slowly dragged himself up to his feet. He was aware of eyes following his movements, but didn't make any attempt to speak to Carla as he stepped down off the steps and onto the cement of the parking lot.

 

“... He's seemed better recently though.”

 

Levi stopped, and after a moment, turned back around to look at Carla. He could see where Eren got his determination from – if her eyes had been the same shade of green that Eren's were, he might have been able to fool himself that it was Eren who was sat on the steps in front of him, staring at him as if he were trying to dig through his inner thoughts for the information he wanted. In fact, Eren _had_ given him that look once or twice when they'd first met. Levi could see where he got it from.

 

Carla's eyes softened a little.

 

“Since attending the lectures, I mean. Do I have you to thank for that?” she asked, her voice a little too light and innocent. Levi felt his lips twitch up into a small, dismissive sneer, and he pointedly ignored the way Carla's face lit up and the light, feminine laughter that followed.

 

He cleared his throat, and she stopped chuckling.

 

“Next week.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Give him to the end of next week. That's what he said to me.”

 

Carla kept quiet a moment, eyes boring into Levi's again, before she nodded. “I see. Next week then.”

 

Levi didn't wait for her to try and continue the conversation; turning on his heel instead, aiming to get out of the parking lot as fast as he could. Behind him, he could hear that light laughter again.

 

“Thank you!” he could hear her calling out after him. It sounded a little like some sort of weight had been lifted from her shoulder as well. “I'll see you soon, I'm sure.”

 

Levi didn't bother to reply.

 

* * *

 

 

Eren didn't show up to the final lecture the week after, and there was no sign of Mikasa or Armin and his still-tragic bowl cut.

 

Levi spent half the lecture glowering at anyone who directed a question at him, and responding to queries asking if he was feeling all right by baring his fangs in the most violent way he possibly could, until Hanji gently but firmly removed him from the room. He then spent the latter half of the lecture pointedly _not_ sulking in the shadows and terrifying the ever loving shit out of any freshers who wandered down the wrong hallway until he felt his spirits lift minutely.

 

The Dean had nearly leapt out of his over-priced suit when he'd come down the corridor to meet Hanji for their last discussion on the effectiveness of the lectures and found him glowering at anything that moved from under the main staircase. It'd taken fifteen minutes for Hanji to coax the Dean out of the room he bolted into and another five to get him to walk past Levi back towards his office. As soon as he was out of the way, Hanji had sighed in exasperation and folded her arms in disapproval as she rounded on Levi.

 

Levi had glared at her. Hanji had, unfortunately, remained completely unaffected.

 

“Look, I know you're in a bad mood because your favourite little newbie is AWOL,” Levi had made an angry, almost hissing noise at this, but Hanji was more than used to his angrier moments and, rather frustratingly, she ignored him and kept going, “but stop taking it out on everyone around you. _Besides_ ,” she added before he could say anything in response, “I saw him hovering around the exit about fifteen minutes ago.”

 

Levi blinked at her, frowning as the information sunk in.

 

“Why didn't you tell me sooner?”

 

“Because I had a jittery Head of the University to calm down. Now,” she slapped a hand squarely on his back and ignored the hissed sound of anger he made, “better hope he didn't get bored and go home. Hop to it! I want all the details later, ok?”

 

She flounced off before he had a chance to physically remove her hand from his back (and her body), vanishing down the corridor with a far too cheerful wave. Levi narrowed his eyes at her retreating back, before turning and storming out of the exit door and onto the steps leading to the parking lot.

 

Eren was sat exactly where Carla had been sat the week previously, although he was sat with his legs pulled up to his chest, and his chin tucked onto his knees – a pose Levi couldn't imaging Eren's mother sitting in at all. He looked tired, slumped against himself, but his eyes were bright and there was an air about him of someone who had the weight of the world removed from their shoulders. Silently, he moved forwards and sat down next to Eren, dangling his legs off the overhang of the cement step.

 

“... I told them,” Eren said after a moment of silence. He sounded relieved as well; lighter and happier than Levi had heard him speak before. “Mom told me she ran into you last week too. Thanks for not saying anything to her.”

 

“And?”

 

Eren kicked his legs back and forth idly, his heels thumping against the concrete step. There was a small smile on his face; perhaps not as bright and wide as he'd been expecting to see from Eren now he'd told his family his not-so-little secret.

 

“It went all right. Dad... didn't take it as well as I hoped, but he didn't exactly take it badly either. It's just taking him some time adjust to having me be like some of the more unique patients. That's why Mikasa's not here today... she's going over all the notes we've been taking from the lectures with him.”

 

“And your mother?”

 

“Like you don't already know.” Levi's lips twitched slightly but he schooled his expression into something neutral before Eren could look at him again. “She suspected what was up from, like, week two. She was just waiting to hear it from me.”

 

“Hmm.” He didn't fight the slight smile that crossed his face, and restrained himself from glowering at Eren when he elbowed him gently in the ribs.

 

“Don't say it.”

 

“I won't.” He was above any form of 'I told you so' related gloating. They sat in a peaceful, content silence for a while. The weather was overcast again, warm but lacking the strength of the sun that made Levi, and someday Eren as well, uncomfortable. Neither of them seemed to feel any need to move, or break company. Levi was aware that this was the last week of lectures, after this afternoon there would be no potential weekly meeting on these steps and no chances for Levi to hear more about how Eren and his family adapted to the new changes in their lives. He wasn't sure how he felt about that – on the one hand, he couldn't say losing the niggling weight of concern over the younger vampire from his shoulders was a bad thing, but the realisation he might not sit with Eren like this again didn't sit comfortably with him either.

 

“Um...”

 

Levi blinked, the sound of Eren clearing his throat dragging him out of his thoughts. When he turned to look at Eren, he was hit with an odd combination of both nerves and determination – Eren's posture was a little hunched, and the way he kept clenching his hands on his lap seemed nervous, but the glint in his large eyes was nothing but determined.

 

“I'm sorry I missed the last lecture.”

 

Levi shrugged, apparently unbothered and uncaring. “You showed up eventually.” But after a moment, he tilted sideways, batting his shoulder against the younger man's. Eren's eyes went a little wide, but after a moment his shoulders relaxed, and he returned the gesture a little awkwardly.

 

“Yeah, but it was the last one.” Eren's eyebrows pulled down into a frown. “You won't be here next week. Guess I kinda feel like I blew it, a little.”

 

There wasn't a whole lot he could say to that. It wasn't like he was vanishing into the ether after the end of today, but it was easy enough to pick up Eren's meaning. They only really saw each other during and after the lecturers. Once the day was done, that was it for the week. In reality, it didn't seem possible that they'd probably only spent a grand total of ten hours in each other's presence. It'd all felt very natural.

 

The knowledge that this was the last time they'd sit outside like this - the sound of Eren's heels scuffing idly against the concrete and the warmth of the sun hanging in the air – sat heavy in the pit of Levi's stomach now. What could he do about it, though? All he'd done was play mentor for some lost, newly turned vampire. His role was over, and Eren had proven he was able to carry that weight properly now he'd stopped carrying it entirely on his own. He could ask for his email or something, maybe? Say it was to keep up to date with what was happening... but there was probably some thin line to walk regarding lecturers, temporary or not, staying in contact with their students. Right? It wasn't like he was well versed in this sort of shit. Maybe it was actually completely all right, and no one would bat an eyelid?

 

“Hey.”

 

Levi's eyes snapped up, and met with Eren's own, oddly huge ones. Which were _definitely_ invading his personal bubble. They both leaned back at the same time – Levi's face careful blank, and Eren's open and honestly sheepish.

 

“Sorry, you kinda looked a little--” he made a complicated waving motion with his hand. Levi followed it with his eyes, a little bemused.

 

“... Constipated?”

 

Eren grimaced. “Not... quite what I was getting at. Out of it, maybe?”

 

They fell into silence again. In the pit of Levi's chest, he could feel the urge to just yell in frustration burning fiercely. Exactly what the hell were people supposed to do in this situation anyway?

 

“Can I ask you something?”

 

Eren's expression had gone from sheepish to steely again. His eyes were pinned onto Levi's with a fierce, burning determination that was a little thrown off by the faintest hint of colour that seemed to be trickling up his neck and settling brightly across his cheekbones. Levi stared at them, before inclining his head a little. Eren took a deep, heavy breath and exhaled it with just as much force. His fingers had tangled themselves in the fabric of his jeans, and for a moment Levi expected him to tear straight through them.

 

“Can I... get your phone number?” There was a silence, one that went on for just a second too long apparently, as Eren's hands went from slowly shredding the life out of the denim covering his – really long, now Levi actually took the chance to look at them – legs, to flailing awkwardly around in front of him, like he were trying to take his words and brush them straight out of existence. “I-I mean, just to let you know what's happening. You ended up really helping me out, and mom said she spoke to you and you helped set her mind at rest somewhat too and she wants to thank you, and if I had your number then I could just--” he trailed off, and his posture deflated like someone had just let all the hot air out of a balloon in one fell swoop. Levi felt something in his chest tighten at the sight.

 

“Y'know, never mind. It's a stupid idea, you're probably glad you won't have to worry about me after this week and--—whoa, hey wha--” Eren squawked, wriggling backwards as Levi unceremoniously stuck his hand in his jacket pocket and tugged out his phone. When he handed it back a moment later, he was sure to hold it outright so the number and contact information he'd added to Eren's address book could clearly be seen. Eren's expression looked a little like he'd been clocked around the head. His hands reached out, taking the phone almost as if he were on autopilot.

 

“It's fine.” Levi said, turning his head away as he felt a traitorous heat rising up in his own face. He knew he hadn't got away with hiding it when Eren's entire body moved so he could see as much of Levi's face as possible without Levi having to resort to a decent impression of the Exorcist to keep it hidden. “Just because you've taken the first steps doesn't mean you won't want to come crying to me again in the long run. Besides, Hanji would probably nag my ear off if I didn't keep an eye on you anyway--”

 

His jaw snapped shut when Eren's hands reached up to lightly and gently frame his jaw – a motion far more careful that he'd honestly thought Eren had the patience to produce. He didn't fight the slow, almost coaxing pressure to get him to turn his head, and was met with a bright, almost hopeful look in Eren's eyes when he gave in and let himself be manhandled. Eren's movements were slow and careful, like he was afraid Levi would bolt if he make any sharp, snappy motions. Given the way his muscles had tensed, Levi was willing to forgive him for thinking that. He felt like he actually might.

 

All the tension seemed to rush out of him when Eren leaned down and pressed their foreheads together. It was the same thing he'd done a couple of weeks ago, but this time there was far less uncertainty in Eren's eyes. Just an unspoken question. One that he felt he could actually answer. When neither of them pulled back after a good thirty seconds, Eren's eyes went from questioning to bright and delighted in a split second, and Levi had to shoot his hand out behind him to stop the both of them from toppling backwards onto the sun warmed concrete of the step as Eren threw himself at Levi, tilting his head to crush their lips together a little painfully.

 

Eren kissed with more passion than skill, all force and over eager desperation over any technical ability or experience. His hands tangled and fisted in the front of Levi's shirt, squeezing periodically against the fabric as if to prevent Levi from escaping. Even after Levi had wrapped his free arm around Eren's shoulders, rubbing his knuckles soothingly against the back of Eren's neck until he felt the younger vampire sink a little bonelessly against his chest, he could still feel the clench and unclench of Eren's fingers through his shirt. There was a pleased purring noise rumbling at the back of Eren's throat, sending little ripples of sensation through their lips. It was only when he felt Eren's tongue swipe tentatively across his lips that Levi pulled back. Eren let out a slight whining noise, leaning forward to try and follow him, sharp teeth catching and nipping at his bottom lip.

 

“We're on the fire exit of your campus building,” Levi said, a little more breathless than he'd like to admit. It was oddly worth it though, to feel the way Eren tensed suddenly and let out a low, squeaky sound of surprise. “Save it for another time.”

 

Eren pulled back, and stared very intently at him. After a moment, his face broke out into a grin. “Another time.” He pressed his forehead against Levi's again, tilting his head until Levi felt the tips of their noses brush together, “Yeah. Another time.”

 

They could've stayed like that quite a while longer, Levi realised later on, but whatever bubble they'd wrapped themselves in was broken when Eren's phone began to vibrate against the concrete where he'd discarded it in favour of other pursuits. Eren's posture went from relaxed and almost docile, to rigid and a little panicked in record time. He scrambled off of Levi, grabbed the phone off the ground and slid off the step onto the tarmac of the car park below.

 

“It's my sister... I should probably take this.” 'Or she'll never stop calling' were the unspoken words. Levi could remember the tall woman with the dark hair and deep, heavy glare from a couple of weeks ago. If she was willing to accost supernatural beings to find out more about her brother's condition, Levi had no trouble believing she was willing to hit redial indefinitely just to speak to him. He waved a hand at Eren in acknowledgement, and pretended he didn't feel something oddly affectionate rush through him at the look of relief on Eren's face. The brunet took a couple of steps backwards, and waved his hand in an awkward little goodbye, before turning and running across the car park.

 

Levi was just making to stand up – he had a Hanji-free apartment to get back to, and a large mug of tea with his name on – when Eren turned around again.

 

“Hey!”

 

Levi stopped, and squinted at Eren's figure across the car park. He could see the blinding white of Eren's grin from where he was stood, and did absolutely nothing to stop his eyes from rolling at Eren made the universal gesture of a phone with his right hand, and brought it up to his ear.

 

“Call me!”

 

Levi didn't even deign him with a response, waving a hand dismissively at him and turning away to hide the upward quirk of his lips at the delighted laugh Eren gave in response.

 

Once the younger vampire was far enough away, Levi reached up and ran a hand over his lips, thoughtfully. There was a lingering trace of warmth about them – the first he'd felt there for a very long time – with a pleasant bruised ache when his fingers made contact with the swollen skin. It wasn't unpleasant though; Eren had thrown himself into the kiss with the same kind of enthusiasm he seemed to do almost everything else with, and Levi'd be lying if he said he hadn't felt a heated curl of pleasure travel up his spine mid-kiss. With a little more practice, Eren would be a very good kisser indeed.

 

“... Hm.”

 

Levi could see the bounce in Eren's step even as he disappeared down the street, and he had to fight the upward quirk of his mouth at the sight of him wandering down the street like an over-excited puppy.

 

Honestly, he still thought the whole idea of vampire culture lectures was a pile of bullshit, and Hanji's over abundance of enthusiasm for the whole idea had been even more ridiculous, especially after the point she'd resorted to bribery and extortion to get him involved.

 

Absent mindedly, Levi slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and let himself chuckle outright when he felt the buzz of his own phone against it.

 

There was no need to look at it to know who had sent it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> One day I might end a fic with something other than character A getting character B's phone number and feeling content. Today is not that day.
> 
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> At least they kissed this time.


End file.
